Daft Property - Irish Property News

Revealed: huge inequity in rural/city property tax... Small apartments in capital will be charged more than rural 'mansions' THE gross inequity of Finance Minister Michael Noonan's property tax is today laid bare as it has emerged Dubliners on the lowest rung of the property ladder will pay higher property tax than the owners of large four-bedroom homes across rural Ireland. One-bed apartment owners in the golden triangle of south county Dublin will be forced to pay on average €315 in property tax, higher or equal than that paid by the owners of large detached houses in 19 other counties outside the capital, a Sunday Independent national property survey published today reveals. The figures have reignited angry calls this weekend from within Fine Gael to have the terms and scope of the property tax amended in the Finance Bill to address the "injustice inflicted on the people of Dublin". Dublin South TD Olivia Mitchell said: "What is happening is th...

How this crippling new homes levy will hit Dubliners 3 times as hard... DUBLINERS face having to pay almost three times as much property tax as householders outside the capital. The controversial tax is due to be rolled out across the board this summer at a 0.18pc rate of the value of the property. But the discrepancies between how much householders in the capital will have to pay compared to people living in towns and cities elsewhere suggests the tax may be one of the most divisive ever. Today the Herald highlights the disparity between the charge on homes in Dublin and two medium-sized towns, close to Cork and Galway cities. We have selected three types of houses - a four-bed detached, a three-bed semi-detached and a three-bed terraced - for comparison purposes. The big difference between the houses in each type is their location and price. Unfair Homeowners are due to receive an estimate on their bill from the Revenue in March. They must submit their valuation by Ma...

Another year over, what do we know? Five years on from the crash, what have we learned? There is no magic solution but we are still thinking like an island. In the end, not even sex could sell Belmayne. Nearly six years ago the north Dublin estate seared itself in the nation’s memory, with images of couples cavorting on kitchen counters, all in the desperate hope of arousing interest in an increasingly flaccid property market. At the now infamous launch party, the developer of Belmayne, Donal Caulfield, wearing a diamante-studded Roberto Cavalli beanie, promised buyers “gorgeous living” in four-bedroom houses with curved walls, all for €600,000.  (Below: one of the famous “gorgeous living” ads) The “gorgeous living” hoardings are long gone, as are the prices. No-nonsense signs on the Malahide Road now advertise houses in Belmayne starting from €245,000. Belmayne is just one attraction in north Dublin’s property market Ground Zero. In 10 minutes you can drive from t...

HOUSE prices could decline by another 20pc from their current levels while variable rates are due to go up again, an international agency has warned. And ongoing rises in mortgage arrears mean borrowers in this country are effectively on strike, credit ratings agency Fitch said. But despite this, there is likely to be a moderate rise in lending to first-time buyers this year. The agency, in a report on the global mortgage market, said property prices here could fall as much as 20pc, but it has assumed a 10pc decrease. Since the bursting of the property bubble, prices have dropped by 50pc, to take the average value to €160,000. Another 20pc fall would take the average price nationally to €128,000. The agency, which rates the economic solidity of countries and companies, said there were signs that prices have stabilised, but a glut of unoccupied properties outside the cities and muted mortgage lending meant price rises were likely to be limited this year. The number of ...

Revenue table of local property tax bands at a tax rate of 18% for 2013 and 2014: Revenue is to send homeowners an estimated value of their home and property tax due, in letters to be issued in the coming weeks. The local property tax payable on the market value of a property is to come into force from July and will be administered by Revenue. Revenue will write to residential property owners in March including notification of an estimated amount of local property tax, a booklet on the operation of the tax, valuation procedures and payment methods and a form for completion. The completed forms with a self-assessment of property value will have to be sent back to Revenue by May 7th on paper or May 28th electronically. The return will be valid until 2016 unless circumstances change. If Revenue believes the amount of property value declared does not reflect the market value, it may question the declaration. If people refuse to pay or do not send back the form the tax...

Homeowners warned against 'fixing' values... HOUSEHOLDERS are already planning to deliberately undervalue their houses to cut down on their property tax bills, a government TD has claimed. There are fines of up to €3,000 in property tax legislation for those who knowingly make a false declaration. But FG Dublin North TD Alan Farrell said he had learnt that some householders in his constituency were discussing a 'price-fixing' system – so that all the people in their street or estate would provide the same deliberately low value to the Revenue. "I think there would be nothing worse in the present economic environment if we had a two-tier system where some people were fiddling the system, while others are doing the right thing," he said. The property tax will be charged at 0.18pc of the current market value of a house, with householders paying six months of the tax this year from July 1. Mr Farrell, who worked as an auctioneer before he was elected ...

House prices go into reverse as property register takes guesswork out of buying... HOUSE prices fell last month in a move that reverses rises in the previous three months. The fall of 0.6pc in October means that prices have now risen in five of the 10 months of this year so far.  The value of the average property in the State is now half of what it was during the peak in the market in 2007. Dublin prices were down 0.2pc in October, and are 7pc lower in the year so far. Residential property prices in the capital are 56pc lower than they were when the market was at its highest, according to the CSO index. Prices outside of Dublin were down 0.9pc last month, and are now down 47pc from the peak. Some property experts said the introduction of the new property price register in September prompted falls in prices, as people can now seen exactly what prices houses and apartments are selling for, rather than relying on estate agents. The average value of a property nationally...